PHOENIX — An estimated 80,000 saguaros were burned in 2020 on the Tonto National Forest in one of Arizona's biggest wildfires.
More than four years later, forest officials and volunteers are working to replant the large cacti across the Bush Fire's burn scar.
Natural Restorations, an Arizona-based nonprofit, launched a saguaro replanting program following the 2020 wildfire.
Earlier this month, a large group of volunteers participated in a "Save Our Saguaros" replanting event that resulted in 100 new saguaros being replanted in the burn scar.
A total of 2,283 saguaros have now been replanted and Natural Restorations is planning to conduct more saguaro replanting events in March and April 2025.
“The targeted goal is to grow 10,000 or more cacti by 2028 and replant them in the burn scar,” Drew Ullberg, Tonto's forest biologist, said in a statement.
More information on the replanting efforts can be found here.
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